Baler discharge chute



Aug. 21, 1956 E. B. NOLT BALER DISCHARGE CHUTE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 OriginalFiled Sept. 6, 1950 Aug. 21, 1956 E. B. NOLT 2,759,323

BALER DISCHARGE CHUTE Original Filed Sept. 6. 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2:MOJ/ 2 Q 2 F INVENTOR.

L w (m6 720%? w'm waim United States Patent U B'ALER DISCHARGE CHUTEEdwin E. Nolt, New Holland, Pa., assignor to Sperry Rand Corporation,New Holland, 'Pa., a corporation of Delaware Original applicationSeptember 6, 1950, Serial No. 183,321. Divided and this applicationNovember 26, 1952, Serial No. 322,716

6 Claims. (Cl. 56-4735) This invention relates to a baler dischargechute for use with an automatic hay baler of the type which is adaptedto be moved through a field to automatically lift hay from the stubble,compress it into a bale, and form and tie bands around the bales witheither twine or a wire.

It is a primary object of the invention to provide a new form of outfeedor discharge chute for dropping the completed bales onto the ground witha rolling motion so that they come to rest in the field in a positionout of the way of the baler when making the next succeeding path throughthe field.

In accordance with the invention, as the completed bales issuing fromthe bale chamber are pushed along the chamber against the frictionalcontact of the walls of the chamber as succeeding bales are beingformed, the finished bales are delivered out of the end of thecompression chamber or bale chamber onto the discharge chute, which hasa relatively narrow ledge formed thereon to partially support therearwardly extending end of each of the bales as the bales issueserially from the chamber, while the front end of each such bale is heldin the baling chamber. As soon as the bale is ejected in its entiretyfrom the chamber, it slides rearwardly on the ledge for a few inches andthen, since the ledge is not wide enough to support the bale it rollsdown over the side of the ledge onto a sloping surface. The slopingsurface, together with the ledge are about as wide as the bottom side ofthe bale and the sloping surface has a tripping flange at its lower sidewhich engages the lower side edge of the bale as it falls onto thesurface to give it a flip as it passes downwardly off of the slopingsurface whereby to produce a rolling motion in the bale as it leaves theoutlet chute. The bales then fall onto the ground as they are issuedfrom the chamber and roll over a time or two, to be displaced well tothe left looking forwardly along the path through which the baler ismoving. This rolling motion is produced in the bales so that they willroll away from the baler and as it makes its next pass through thefield, the bales will be deposited in the field out of the path of thebaler so that the baler can freely move along the next windrow to pickup all of the hay without requiring movement of any of the previouslyformed bales before the second pass can be made.

A baler discharge chute embodying the improved features of the inventionand applied to a baler in accordance with the invention, is illustratedin the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 represents a perspective view of the rear end portion of a haybaler having the discharge chute of my invention operatively applied tothe discharge end of the bale chamber.

Figure 2 represents a side elevation of the structure of Figure 1, asseen from the left hand or far side thereof, the free end portion of thedischarge chute being broken away.

Figure 3 represents a side elevation taken from the opposite side asregards Figure 2, the baler discharge chute 2,759,323 Patented Aug. 21,1956 in this view being shown in its upwardly swung inoperativeposition.

Referring now in detail to the accompanying drawings, I have illustratedmy invention as applied to an automatic pick-up hay baler, the detailsof which are fully shown and described in my copending applicationSerial No. 183,321, filed September 6, 1950, of which this is adivision. Such a hay baler is of the wheeled type adapted to be movedthrough a hay field and has a conventional pick-up (not shown) whichwill be located at the righthand side of the baler as seen in Figure 1.From the pick-up, the hay is delivered into a bale chamber 10, which maybe of rectangular cross-section extending lengthwise in the direction oftravel of the baler. The hay is compressed into bales in the balechamber by a usual reciprocating plunger or the like, the bales beingbanded and then successively expelled rearwardly from the bale chamberonto the bale discharge chute of the invention, designated C in itsentirety.

Discharge chute C is of a type which may be economically formed ofintegral sheet metal construction, and is preferably pivotally connectedto the bale chamber, as at 1111' for adjustment about a horizontal axis.

When operatively positioned to receive and discharge bales issuing fromthe adjoining end of the bale casing or chamber, the chute C is swungdownwardly to a horizontal position, as in Figures 1 and 2, andsupported by means such as the chain 12 connected between the uppercorner of the bale casing and the chute. During transport of the baler,the chute may be swung upwardly to an out of the way vertical position,as in Figure 3, and held in such position by the chain 12, theconnection of which to the bale casing is adjusted accordingly.

The chute C includes an elongated flat ledge 13 which is supported atsubstantially the level of the bale chamber floor or bottom to receivethe completed bales as they issue serially from the bale chamber, theledge having a width less than one-half of the bale chamber or thebales, so that upon being fully received on the ledge 13, the bales willbe unbalanced and will tend to topple over along the inner longitudinaledge or shoulder 14 of the chute.

In order to guide the bales along the chute C to insure their thusbecoming unbalanced and toppling over the inner edge or shoulder 14, anupturned longitudinal flange 15 may be formed along the outer edge or"the chute C in substantial alignment with the adjoining side wall of thebale casing or chamber 10.

Slopi'ng transversely downwardly from the longitudinal edge or shoulder14, of the ledge 13 is a preferably integral section 16 of the chutedefining a sloping surface longitudinally adjoining said ledge. Thesection or surface 16 in the present instance constitutes an integralportion of the chute C, being merely bent downwardly relative to theledge 13 along a fold line coincident with the inner edge 14 of theledge. It will be apparent that the bales toppling or rolling laterallyoif the ledge 13 will be received on and will roll laterally down thesloping surface 16. It will be noted that the surface 16 slopes to theleft or away from the pick-up of the baler so that the bales will tendto roll away from the pick-up side of the baler.

Disposed along the longitudinal lower edge of the sloping surface orsection 16 is a tripping means which may comprise an integral upwardlybent flange 17 disposed to engage each falling bale to produce a rollingmotion in each of the bales as they fall from the ledge 13. Preferablythe tripping flange 17 is so located as to extend around the lower lefthand corner of each of the falling bales to function somewhat in themanner of a hook.

In order to transversly stiifen the chute C, same may be provided withan end wall 18 at its forward end fixed to the-sloping section 16. Arearwardly bent and upwardly projecting tab or ear 19, shown in Figure2, provides means for pivotally connecting this left side of the chuteto the bale chamber, as at 11.

In.the operation of the invention, as the completed bale issues step bystep out of the end of the chamber 10," it is supported at its rear endon the ledge 13 of the out feed chute. When the baler is in operation,the out feed chute is lowered to the position shown in Figures 1 and 2so that the ledge 13 forms in effect a continuation of the floor of thecompression chamber 1%.

The compressed bales are supported by the engagement of their front endsin the bale chamber and their rear ends move along ledge 13 during thetime when the bale is being forced out of the chamber by successivestrokes of the compressing plunger. After the bale has been pushedentirely out of the bale chamber, it is supported for a moment on theledge 13, which has a width somewhat less than the width of the bottomside of the bale'so that the bale tends to fall down on to thesloping'surface 16 formed integral with the out feed chute. As the balebalances over the edge or shoulder 14 between ledge 13 and the surface16, a rolling action is produced so that when the bale hits the trippingflange 17 located at the bottom of surface 16, this flange preferablyhooks around the lower left-hand corner of the bale as seen from therear end or discharge end of the baler and the bale is thus flipped overso that it will turn over several times upon rolling out onto theground.

The production of this rolling action in the discharged bale is ofparticular advantage in that when the bale is thus dropped onto theground it rolls laterally away from the baler so as to be well out ofthe path through which the baler moves in making the next pass aroundthe field. In using an outfeed or discharge chute as shown, it is quitepractical for the baler to follow the spiral or other closely spacedwindrows produced in the usual hay field and to drop the bales in thefield without first picking up the bales made during the preceding passof the machine around the field or requiring that they be moved out ofthe path of the baler.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A-h'ay baler discharge chute comprising an elongated substantiallyhorizontal ledge having a rectilinear longitudinal edge, means defininga sloping surface immediately adjoining said ledge along saidlongitudinal edge thereof, said sloping surface being inclinedtransversely downwardly from its juncture with said edge, a trippingflange being fixed on and projecting upwardly 41 from the lower side ofsaid sloping surface to a level below the center of gravity of a balesupported on said surface and in transversely opposed parallelrelationship to said edge.

2. A hay baler discharge chute comprising an elongated substantiallyhorizontal'ledge having a straight longitudinal edge, an upstandingguide flange fixed on said ledge parallel to said longitudinal edge, anda generally horizontal tripping means supported below and parallel tosaid longitudinal edge in laterally spaccd laterally opposed relationthereto.

3. A hay baler discharge chute comprising an elongated substantiallyhorizontal ledge having a straight longitudinal edge, a tripping meansand means supporting said tripping means in a horizontal plane below andparallel to said longitudinal edge in laterally spaced transverselyopposed relation thereto.

4. A discharge chutefor producing a rolling motion in bales issuing fromthebale chamber of a hay baler comprising an elongated substantiallyhorizontal ledge in longitudinal alignment with the bale chamber andlying wholly on one side of the major axis of said chamber, said ledgehaving an inner edge adjacent and parallel to said major axis, and atripping means longitudinally aligned with said chamber and lying whollyon the other side of said major longitudinal axis at a level below saidledge, and transversely opposed thereto;

5. The combination of claim 4 including means defining a sloping surfaceinclined transversely downwardly from said inner edge, saidtripping'means comprising a flange projecting upwardly from said slopingsurface is spaced parallel relation to said inner edge, said flangeprojecting above said sloping surface, a distance equal toless than halfof the height of said bale chamber.

6. The combination of claim 4'comprising a guide flange projectingupwardly along one marginal edge of said ledge remote from said majoraxis of the bale chamber and in longitudinal alignment with a side wallof said bale chamber.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,496,364 Bonnafoux June 3, 1924 1,588,681 Haney June 15, 1926 2,529,842Jones et al Nov. 14, 1950 2,649,945 McClellan Aug. 25, 1953 FOREIGNPATENTS 871,420 France -2 Jan. 15, 1942

